Dateline August 28, 2015, Pinehurst, Niagara on the Lake and Forest, Ontario

Pinehurst.

Pinehurst is one of the greatest golf destinations in the United States, famous above all for the courses designed by Donald Ross.

Ross learned his trade the hard way, apprenticing under Old Tom Morris at St. Andrews before sailing for America in 1900. Over the next four decades he laid out or reworked something north of 400 courses, which may explain why so much of the good golf in this country seems to carry his fingerprints. We will play a Donald Ross course any chance we get.

The U.S. Open had been played on Pinehurst #2 the year before, and the greens had since been switched over to Champion ultradwarf bermuda, a hybrid that thrives in the southern heat and is a pleasure to putt. We got a kick out of learning that the crew who laid it down was the same Texas outfit, Champion Turf Farms, that had just regrassed the greens at our home course, The Riv, in Holly Hill earlier that summer. Small world, and good company.

Every year Pinehurst Resorts hosts its two North and South Amateur Championships, a tradition that runs back to the Men's event in 1901 and the Women's two years later. There is now a Senior division, over 50 for women and 55 for men, and Janice was teeing it up in the Women's Senior for the fourth time.

Dave and Lin Culver, friends of ours from Hammock Beach just up the road, had rented a four-bedroom house in Pinehurst Village, and we shared it with the Culvers, Gigi Higgins from Cape Coral, Linda Evert from Nashville, and Bob Love from Toronto. Every bedroom had its own bath, the kitchen and family room were open and easy, and the back deck made for the occasional relaxing drink. We even had a mascot, Pumpkin the kitten. Our daughter Kieran drove down Friday night to join us for dinner.

The next morning John, Janice, and Dave played #2, and what a treat it was. Since Bill Coore and Ben Crenshaw restored it a few years back, stripping it down to Ross's original lines, the edges of the fairways have gone sandy and wild, more desert than rough, and all the better for it. The starter sent us off with a piece of news that takes some getting used to: there are no pin sheets here, nothing to tell you where the hole is cut, the very thing nearly every other course in the world hands you. Just aim for the center of the green, he said, and play from there. That is the whole secret of a Ross course, where a ball struck even slightly off line will trickle off the putting surface and leave you wondering what you did wrong. Pinehurst #2 is the masterpiece of that idea. Aim at the middle and make your peace with it.

For the next four days the girls and Bob were practicing or competing in the North and South Senior, with a Super Senior division running alongside it that Janice also entered.

While the tournament played out, Dave and John went exploring the other courses, including a trip over to Mid-Pines in Southern Pines, another Donald Ross gem. John had fond memories of playing Mid-Pines years ago with his mother, Jean, and his good friend Tim Clark from Greensboro.

When the dust settled, Janice finished 5th in the Super Senior division with rounds of 76, 77, and 79. A fine ending to the Pinehurst chapter.

Niagara Falls and Niagara-on-the-Lake.

Friday morning we pointed the car north from Pinehurst toward Niagara Falls, hoping to land somewhere along the water for the night. We made it all the way to Buffalo and found a good Friday rate near the airport. Having seen the falls on an earlier trip, this time we decided to dig into some of the local history.

Old Fort Niagara.

The French planted themselves at the mouth of the Niagara River in 1679 and, in 1726, made it permanent with the stone stronghold they cheerfully named the "French Castle." From there the fort spent the better part of a century being passed back and forth like a contested family heirloom: the British took it from the French in 1759, it went to the young United States by treaty in 1796, back to the British in 1813, and home to the States for good in 1815, after the War of 1812. The Five Nations of the Iroquois, the most powerful native confederacy on the continent, traded with both sides and held to their neutrality as long as they could, until the steady push of French troops and forts toward the Ohio River tipped them toward the British and helped spark the French and Indian War. It is quite a sight, sitting right where the river spills into Lake Ontario.

The Castle itself was built to be a world unto itself, with quarters, storerooms, a chapel, and a well all under one roof, so a garrison could hold out behind its walls against anything that came. It still stands, and somewhere in the 1800s it traded its plain military name for the grander one that stuck.

Niagara Falls Country Club.

From the fort we headed over to Niagara Falls Country Club in Lewiston, New York. Our pro at The Riv, Mike Boss, had called ahead to his brother John, the head professional there, who could not have been more gracious about welcoming us out. A club tournament was wrapping up, so we slipped onto the tenth tee, where a gentleman was playing on his own. We asked if he would like some company, and that is how we came to spend the afternoon with "Vinnie," who introduced himself as Vincent O'Malley. Somewhere along the way it came out that Vinnie was in fact Father O'Malley, the chaplain at Niagara University. His presence did wonders for John's vocabulary after a wayward shot, which brought a knowing smile to Janice's face.

The course was a beauty and a real test. When we came in we met John and Laura Boss, who gave us a tour of the club, and the views from the main clubhouse are something to behold. They were wonderful hosts, and we hope to see them when they come down to visit Mike this winter.

Niagara-on-the-Lake.

On an earlier visit we had fallen for Niagara-on-the-Lake, a pretty little town looking out over the water, and we had promised ourselves we would come back. This time we booked a morning round at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Golf Club, a nine-hole course that bills itself as the oldest in North America, built in 1875.

There is some good history here. In September 1895 the club hosted the Niagara International, the first international tournament ever held on the continent, and the first hole pulled double duty as a longest-drive contest. The winner of both was Charles B. Macdonald of the Chicago Golf Club, who that same year would claim the first official U.S. Amateur at Newport. His winning poke measured 179 yards, one foot, and six inches, which is a polite way of saying you could very likely outdrive a legend of the game on any given Tuesday.

We carried our clubs and went around twice for our eighteen, under perfect weather, with Lake Ontario in view the whole way. If you ever find yourself there, play the nine and have lunch on the patio. That evening we stayed at the Harbour Inn, did a little wine tasting before dinner, strolled up to the village for a light meal outside over a bottle of local wine, slept well, and were sent off in the morning with a delightful breakfast. Then it was time to move on.

The Canadian Women's Mid-Am and Senior Am.

Off we went to Camlachie, Ontario, for the Canadian Women's Mid-Amateur and Senior Amateur, held at the Saw Mill resort. Janice had tracked down a bed and breakfast called Thru Windows Past in Forest, Ontario, about five miles from the course. The house, built in 1893 and restored right down to the period, was lovely, and the owners, Glen and Joy, could not have been more welcoming, with coffee, tea, and home-baked cookies set out in the hall each afternoon. It may be off the beaten path, but Forest is fine farming country a few miles from Lake Huron, and it put us in mind of the small midwestern towns back home.

Canadian Senior golf.

The Saw Mill course was a good layout in excellent shape. Janice got a solid practice round in on Monday and went into the competition feeling ready. Tuesday brought a 79. Day two started a little shaky, but by the ninth she had found her swing, and there is nothing quite like watching a tee shot track toward the flag on a par three, except watching it vanish into the cup. A hole in one, her 7th, on the way to a 77 for the day.

That wrapped up the two-day Super Senior event. Her combined score put her inside the cut of 70 for the final round, though a few errant shots there left her, as they say, out of the money. No matter. In the Super Senior division she came home with second place.

With the tournament behind us we made for Muskegon, Michigan, to catch the morning ferry across Lake Michigan to Milwaukee and visit our good friends Pete and Bunny Warenski, our companions from the New Zealand and Australia trip earlier that year. Between Janice's 5th at Pinehurst and 2nd in the Canadian Super Senior, it had been quite a summer of golf.